Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Dwindling Supply Of Vital But Simple Drug Setting Hospitals On Edge

Because of the shortage, doctors are having to make tough decisions on how they treat their patients. “Does the immediate need of a patient outweigh the expected need of a patient?” one asked. “It’s a medical and ethical question that goes beyond anything I’ve had to experience before.” In other public health news: infertility, pumping breast milk, services for deaf patients, neuroscience, probiotics and more.

NPR:
Scientists May Someday Fight Infertility With 3-D Printed Ovaries
The list of things that can be created with 3-D printers keeps getting longer: jewelry, art, guns, food, medical devices and, now, mouse ovaries. Scientists have used a 3-D printer to create a mouse ovary capable of producing healthy offspring. And researchers hope to create replacement human ovaries the same way someday. (Stein, 5/20)

The Washington Post:
Unable To Pump Breast Milk On The Job, Airline Employees Turn To Dirty Closets And Bathrooms
In the months after her daughter was born, Jo Roby faced a serious dilemma: She wanted to provide her infant daughter with breast milk, but Frontier Airlines — where she’d worked as a flight attendant for more than a decade — forbids employees from pumping breast milk during flights. To avoid health complications and keep her daughter supplied with milk, Roby, who lives in Boise, Idaho, needed to be able to pump every three or four hours. But long, 10-hour days in the air with unpredictable flight schedules made that goal nearly impossible. (Holley, 5/19)

Stat:
Deaf Patients Struggle To Get Adequate Interpretation Services In ERs
It’s challenging for hospitals to provide interpreters to the myriad patients and family members who speak different languages, from Spanish to sign language. On-site interpreters can be costly and hard to arrange, so hospitals have sought out alternatives, including video conferencing with remote interpreters, who can be helping a patient in Ohio one minute and in Oregon the next. Many deaf patients have taken to social media to complain about the use of video interpreting services in emergency rooms. Numerous patients tell stories about a blurry video feed and describe having to set up the video interpreting service themselves when nurses don’t know how to operate the equipment, or being unable to focus on a small screen in a crowded room. (Miller, 5/22)

NPR:
The Curious Case Of Phineas Gage's Brain
It took an explosion and 13 pounds of iron to usher in the modern era of neuroscience. In 1848, a 25-year-old railroad worker named Phineas Gage was blowing up rocks to clear the way for a new rail line in Cavendish, Vt. He would drill a hole, place an explosive charge, then pack in sand using a 13-pound metal bar known as a tamping iron. (Hamilton, 5/21)

The Washington Post:
People Love Probiotics, But Do They Really Help?
Probiotics are having a moment. They’re touted as the next big superstar in disease prevention and in treatment for ailments such as irritable bowel syndrome, gestational diabetes, allergies and obesity. Fans claim that these “good” bacteria will nourish your gut microbiome and crowd out the “bad” microbes. As a result, you’ll experience better digestion, a healthier immune system and a sunnier mood. (Yu, 5/20)

Orlando Sentinel:
Zika Update: USF, Sanford Burnham Publish New Findings
Earlier this month, scientists at University of South Florida and Stanford University reported that mosquito-borne diseases like Zika can spread at lower temperatures than previously thought. By studying models of Zika outbreak in South and Central America, researchers found that the virus’s transmission is highest around 84 degrees, and not 90 degrees as previously thought. (Miller, 5/19)

Columbus Dispatch:
Virtual-Reality Game Helps Young Hemophilia Patients Endure Prickly Treatments
The calming effect came from a virtual-reality gaming system created to help pediatric hemophilia patients deal with the needles they face, sometimes as often as three times a week... The device, a disposable cardboard shell that holds a cellphone, slips over a patient’s eyes, providing a virtual-reality experience. Children, who need to hold their arms still while an IV line is placed, control game play with a movement of the head or by breathing into a sensor. (Viviano, 5/21)

The Baltimore Sun:
Advocates Criticize 'Everything, Everything' Movie For Misinforming Public On Immune Disorders
The illness the movie features is severe combined immune deficiency, or SCID, but became better known as the "bubble boy" disease in the 1970s after the first in a series of shows based on a Texas boy forced to live germ free to prevent deadly infections...The romantic drama is the latest film to draw criticism for taking liberties with medical facts, misrepresenting disorders or portraying science incorrectly or even negatively. Advocates say such movies are not just missed opportunities to explain rare illnesses like SCID, they are hurtful and potentially harmful. (Cohn, 5/19)

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